Stock Market & Financial Investment News

On The Fly: Closing WrapStocks on Wall Street were higher in spite of post-earnings drops from a number of Dow components and a halt of U.S. flights to Israel's capital. Stocks began the session in positive territory and remained there throughout the entire session, moving in a fairly narrow range against the backdrop of a pick-up in the number of companies reporting on their quarterly results. The market withstood the latest headlines from Israel's conflict in Gaza, which indicated that the FAA has suspended U.S. flights to Tel Aviv for 24 hours following a rocket launch that landed near the city's airport. With the Dow again near record levels, investors are preparing for tonight's earnings blast, which includes reports from both Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT). ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., the Consumer Price Index rose 0.3% in June, matching expectations. The FHFA home price index rose 0.4% to 212.4 in May. Existing home sales rose 2.6% to a rate of 5.04M in June, beating expectations for a 2.2% monthly increase to a 5.0M rate. The Richmond Fed's manufacturing index rose 3 points to 7 in July, missing the consensus forecast by 1 point. COMPANY NEWS: Shares of Herbalife (HLF) began the day in negative territory as hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, who has repeatedly called the company a pyramid scheme, prepared to begin the presentation that he told CNBC yesterday would show why the company "is going to collapse." Among the allegations made today, Ackman estimated that Herbalife's nutrition clubs lose an average of $12K for their operators, that the clubs contribute "enormously" to Herbalife's results and that Herbalife insiders are selling while the company is repurchasing shares. After the multiple hour long presentation, Herbalife said Ackman "over-promised and under-delivered" on his $1B bet against the company. The multi-level marketing company added that Ackman’s claim about the earnings of its nutrition clubs is "completely false and fabricated" and the stock closed the day up $13.75, or 25.45%, at $67.77... Six members of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, or one fifth of the index, reported on their earnings this morning. Among them, Verizon (VZ) advanced 28c, or 0.55%, to $50.98, while Coca-Cola (KO) slid 2.85%, McDonald’s (MCD) fell 1.31%, DuPont (DD) dropped 0.9%, United Technologies (UTX) dropped 1.88% and Travelers (TRV) declined 3.81%. MAJOR MOVERS: Among the notable gainers was Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), which rallied $69.84, or 11.84%, to $659.77 after the restaurant operator's second quarter results handily beat analysts' consensus estimates and it raised its fiscal 2014 comparable restaurant sales outlook. Also higher was Crocs (CROX) which rose $1.84, or 12.4%, to $16.68 after the footwear maker reported second quarter earnings per share and revenue that exceeded analysts' consensus and detailed its plans for cost-saving measures and store closures. Among the noteworthy losers was Harley Davidson (HOG), which fell $3.62, or 5.4%, to $63.46 after its second quarter earnings beat expectations but the company lowered its forecast for its fiscal year motorcycle shipments. Also lower were shares of Netflix (NFLX), which fell $20.86, or 4.62%, to $431.09 after several research firms reiterated their negative outlook on the stock following the company's second quarter results. INDEXES: The Dow was up 61.81, or 0.36%, to 17,113.54, the Nasdaq was up 31.31, or 0.71%, to 4,456.02, and the S&P 500 was up 9.90, or 0.50%, to 1,983.53.

News For HLF;CMG;CROX;HOG;NFLX;MCD;KO;VZ;DD;UTX;TRV From The Last 14 Days

United Technologies July weekly volatility increases into Q2 and outlookUnited Technologies July weekly call option implied volatility is at 25, August is at 14, September is at 17; compared to its 52-week range of 12 to 26, suggesting large near term price movement into the expected release of Q2 results on July 21.

Earnings Watch: Verizon to report Q2 results after AOL acquisitionVerizon Communications (VZ) is expected to report second quarter earnings before the market open on Tuesday, July 21, with a conference call scheduled for 8:30 am ET. Verizon is a holding company providing communications, information and entertainment. EXPECTATIONS: Analysts are looking for earnings per share of $1.01 on revenue of $32.45B, according to First Call. The consensus range for EPS is 93c-$1.05 on revenue of $31.75B-$33.0B. LAST QUARTER: Verizon reported first quarter EPS of $1.02 against estimates for 95c on revenue of $32B against estimates for $32.27B. Verizon Wireless had 565,000 retail postpaid net additions in Q1, a 4.8% increase compared with first-quarter 2014. At the end of Q1, the company had 108.6M retail connections, a 5.1% year-over-year increase, and had 102.6M retail postpaid connections. The company added 621,000 4G smartphones to its customer base in Q1. In light of a net decline in 3G smartphones, overall smartphone growth totaled 247,000. The company also added 820,000 4G tablets and reported net declines of 385,000 basic phones and 188,000 prepaid devices in Q1. 4G devices now constitute approximately 70% of the retail postpaid connections base, up from 49% a year ago – with the 4G LTE network handling about 86% of total wireless data traffic in Q1. At 1.03% in Q1, retail postpaid churn improved both sequentially and year over year. Retail postpaid smartphone customer churn was less than 0.9%. Verizon added 133K net new FiOS Internet, and 90K net new FiOS Video connections in Q1. Verizon had totals of 6.7M FiOS Internet and 5.7M FiOS Video connections at the end of the first quarter, representing year-over-year increases of 9.4% and 7.9%, respectively. CEO Lowell McAdam said, “We are confident in our ability to maintain momentum and continue to add value for customers and shareholders.” On May 12, Verizon announced it would acquire AOL for $50 per share, or $4.4B. The transaction was completed on June 23. On May 19, speaking at the JPMorgan Global Technology, Media and Telecom Conference, CFO Fran Shammo said he expects net phone additions in Q2. ANALYST REACTION: Street research has been mostly mixed in the weeks leading up to Verizon’s Q2 earnings report. On May 12, Macquarie downgraded Verizon to Underperform from Neutral with a $45 price target to reflect a weaker 2016 and 2017 earnings outlook. The firm's analyst believed management has made a series of questionable strategic moves beginning with the Vodafone (VOD) deal that will depress earnings. Recent advertising promotions are likely to pressure 2015 margins and ARPU and LTE capacity issues are expected in certain markets later in the year. Macquarie is surprised Verizon shares have held in around $50 with treasury yields rising and increasing Q2 promotions and does not believe this is sustainable ahead of a reset in consensus estimates. Conversely, on July 9, Stifel resumed coverage of Verizon with a Buy rating and price target of $60 per share. PRICE ACTION: Verizon’s shares are down about 3% since the company's Q1 report. Over the past twelve months, they are down about 5.7%. In afternoon trading ahead of Tuesday's Q2 report, Verizon’s shares are up 0.6%.

United Technologies technical notes ahead of earningsThe stock has been in a downtrend since hitting the 52-week high at $124.45 back in February. Weaker than expected earnings or outlook could keep the downtrend intact. In that event next support based on the current price of $109.98 would be at $107.95 which was a recent pivot low. A further break could see the following support levels become additional downside objectives: $104.86, $100.69, and $97.30 which is the 52-week low. If the news is a bullish surprise, the first important resistance level would be at the $113 area. A move above that level would break the existing downtrend. Additional resistance levels to watch as potential upside objectives would be at $115, $117.03, and $119.07.

On The Fly: Top stock stories at middayStocks on Wall Street were slightly higher at midday in the first trading day of a week that will be light on domestic economic data but heavy on earnings reports. Investors will be receiving profit reports from about 25% of the companies on the S&P 500 this week, making this the highest volume earnings week of this season. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., no major data was released. In Europe, Greece reopened its banks three weeks after closing as the country worked out another bailout agreement. The country announced it has started the process of paying off its creditors, including the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, with a bridge loan it just received. COMPANY NEWS: Lockheed Martin (LMT) agreed to buy the Sikorsky Aircraft business from United Technologies (UTX) for $9B, noting the price is "effectively reduced" to $7.1B after taking into account tax benefits resulting from the transaction. Shares of Lockheed, which also reported better than expected second quarter results and increased its fiscal year guidance, gained nearly 2% after the Sikorsky announcement and saying it will conduct a strategic review of its government IT infrastructure services business and technical services business... Shares of Morgan Stanley (MS) shares were little changed near noon after the bank reported earnings and revenue, excluding certain adjustments, that topped analysts' consensus forecasts... SunEdison (SUNE) announced a deal to acquire Vivint Solar (VSLR) for approximately $2.2B, payable in a combination of cash, shares of SunEdison common stock and SunEdison convertible notes. In connection with the proposed acquisition of Vivint Solar, SunEdison has entered into a definitive purchase agreement with a subsidiary of TerraForm Power (TERP) which, concurrently with the completion of SunEdison's acquisition of Vivint, will acquire Vivint Solar's rooftop solar portfolio, consisting of 523 MW expected to be installed by year-end 2015, for $922M in cash. Shares of Vivint rose 44% following the announcement, while SunEdison's stock gained 4% and TerraForm dropped 3%. Fellow residential solar installer SolarCity (SCTY), which is backed by Tesla's (TSLA) Elon Musk, rose 7% following the deal in the space. MAJOR MOVERS: Among the notable gainers was Exelixis (EXEL), which rallied 43% after the company reported that a study of cabozantinib in metastatic renal cell carcinoma met its primary endpoint of significant improvement in progression-free survival. The shares were indicated to rise even more in early pre-market trading, but lost some of their gains after Bristol-Myers (BMY) announced that its Opdivo study was stopped early after showing superior overall survival in a Phase 3 study of previously treated patients with advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Bristol-Myers rose a bit less than 1% to trade near $70 per share after its own announcement. Also higher was PayPal (PYPL), which gained more than 5.5% in its first day of trading after being spun out of eBay (EBAY). Meanwhile, eBay shares rose over 2%. Cal-Maine Foods (CALM) dropped 8% after posting lower than expected sales and profits in its fourth quarter and warning that while it should have an adequate supply of its primary feed ingredients, the company expects that prices will be "volatile" in the year ahead. Also lower were shares of several gold miners, including Barrick Gold (ABX) and Newmont Mining (NEM), which each fell about 11%, as gold prices declined about 2% near midday. INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow was up 31.66, or 0.18%, to 18,118.11, the Nasdaq was up 9.81, or 0.19%, to 5,219.96, and the S&P 500 was up 2.82, or 0.13%, to 2,129.46.

Harley-Davidson August volatility increases into Q2 and outlook Harley-Davidson August call option implied volatility is at 40, November is at 30; compared to its 52-week range of 17 to 39, suggesting large near term price movement into the expected release of Q2 results on July 21.

Lockheed Martin to acquire Sikorsky Aircraft business for $9BUnited Technologies (UTX) announced that it has reached an agreement to sell its Sikorsky Aircraft business to Lockheed Martin (LMT) for $9B in cash. The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions and adjustments, is projected to close by year-end or in the Q1 of FY16. Proceeds from the sale are expected to be used to fund additional share repurchase to offset the earnings impact related to the sale. The company will discuss this transaction at its previously scheduled conference call with investors. In addition, UTC's Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program for up to 75M shares of the company's common stock, which would be worth approximately $8.3B based on the NYSE closing price of UTC shares on July 17. The new authorization replaces a previous program, approved in February 2013, which was nearing completion. The precise timing and amount of repurchases will be determined based on the company's evaluation of market conditions and other factors, and the program may be suspended or discontinued at any time.

Media reports say Lockheed to buy UTX's SikorskyAccording to media reports, Lockheed Martin (LMT) has agreed to purchase United Technologies' (UTX) Sikorsky unit. The news comes after several months of speculation surrounding Sikorsky, and an announcement could be made just a day prior to second quarter earnings for both United and Lockheed. WHAT'S NEW: Reuters reported on Sunday that Lockheed Martin has agreed to buy Sikorsky Aircraft from United Technologies for over $8B, according to two sources, adding that the deal is set to be formally announced on Monday. The news was later echoed by Bloomberg, citing a person familiar with the talks. WHAT'S NOTABLE: United Technologies first reported that it was exploring strategic options for its Sikorsky unit on March 11. At the time, the company noted that options included a spinoff or a stand-alone public company, saying that the split could allow United "to better focus on providing high-technology systems and services to the aerospace and building industries." Following the announcement, UBS remarked that it was "not surprised" and reiterated a $136 price target on United shares. On May 20, the Wall Street Journal quoted sources as saying Boeing (BA), Airbus (EADSY) and Lockheed submitted bids for the helicopter maker, with a speculated deal thought to reach the $10B area. A June 9 report from Reuters added Textron (TXT) to the list of bidders. Today's news -- though unconfirmed by either United or Lockheed -- comes ahead of second quarter earnings reports for both companies scheduled for Tuesday, July 21. PRICE ACTION: Shares of Lockheed Martin declined 0.22% to $201.18 at the close of trading on July 17, while those of United Technologies fell 0.45% to $110.76.